Lady Cardinals see one slip away, may lose Brisso
By DONN ADAMSON\Daily Journal Sports Editor
Mar 02, 2005 - 10:27:32 CST
PARK HILLS - The Mineral Area College Lady Cardinals had the Crowder Lady Riders right where they wanted them Tuesday night. MAC was up by two with 26 ticks left on the clock and the ball, but Crowder's Karin Trindade went for the steal on Anna Brisso and the ball came loose. In the ensuing struggle to get the ball, both girls hit the deck and Brisso was called for the foul, her fifth.
Worse than that was the fact that Brisso came up limping. Trindade made both free throws to tie the game, and Crowder went on to win in overtime 78-72.
The extent of Brisso's injuries was not known at press time, and it was not the best of presents since Tuesday was Brisso's 20th birthday. Mineral Area with its bench of two can ill afford her loss.
"It's not just losing her as a player, but her hustle, her aggressiveness on the court, her defense, she always is getting after it. We can't afford to lose her ability and leadership as a player," said MAC coach Lana LaBruyere.
The Lady Cardinals which are getting to be known as the 'Band-Aid Bunch' could not afford to be too aggressive in the overtime. MAC finished with only five players and three of those had four fouls.
Free throws made the difference for the Lady Riders as they connected on 17 of 20 tries (7-8 in OT), but with their deep bench they could afford to put Mineral Area on the line 32 times. The Lady Cardinals made only 18.
"Free throws could have won it for us," said LaBruyere
After Trindade's tying free throw, the Lady Cardinals had 10 seconds left to score in regulation, and they gave it a great try as a lay-up attempt was off the mark and the follow-up was also short.
The Lady Cardinals fell behind quickly in the overtime period, and their three-point attempts came up empty. MAC was 6-18 on the night from behind the arc.
Brisso started the scoring by hitting a three right after Erica Anderson stole the ball from Crowder which had won the tip. Crowder's Chrissie Greninger answered with one of her own which set the tone for the game. Both teams battled back and forth all the way to the end .
Neither team's defense could prevent the other team from scoring. MAC blew through Crowder's press and Crowder was able to work the ball inside to their taller players for the easy score. Mineral Area could penetrate against Crowder, but a missed shot would usually mean a rebound for the taller Lady Riders.
Alycea Wallace took the ball to the hole numerous times in the first half, scoring 15 of her game-high 25 points. Crowder fed the ball to their 6'4" center Daniella Martins who scored all six of her points in the first half, and whenever she was prevented from shooting by two or more Lady Cardinals, Martins dished off to a teammate for an open shot. Crowder led at the half 35-34.
Where Martins left off in the first half, 6'0" Livia Brito took over inside and scored 12 in the second half, but it was Erin Moore who gave the Lady Riders the edge making 10-11 free throws in the game and going 6-6 in the final minutes of the game.
Brito scored a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds for Crowder. Anderson also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for MAC.
Crowder enjoyed the biggest lead for either team after Erica de Souza hit a three-pointer, and they went up by 10 points with 8:16 left in the game. Coach Lana LaBruyere called time to readjust her offense, and the Lady Cardinals responded with six straight points. A three by Anderson and a pair of free throws by Wallace made it 59-58 and had the Crowder coach hollering for time.
MAC was patient on offense, and the result was an open jumper from 10 feet out by Wallace to give MAC the lead, 60-59. After falling behind 65-63, MAC's Sarah Dietiker was fouled and Crowder was also called for a technical. Brisso sank both of the tech free-throws, and Dietiker made one for the lead. Wallace would add one more free throw, before the Brisso/Trindale collision.
The Lady Cardinals will play their next game at Three Rivers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Region 16 Tournament.
Crowder 35 32 11 - 78
Mineral Area 34 33 5 - 72
SCORING:
Crowder - E Souza 18, E Moore 18, L Brito 16, K Trindade 9, D Martins 6, M Welch 5, C Greninger 3, H Bray 3.
3-Pointers - E Souza 2, L Brito 1, M Welch 1, C Greninger 1.
Mineral Area - A Wallace 25, R Sane 16, E Anderson 13, S Dietiker 10, M Pollard 1.
3-Pointers - E Anderson 2, S Dietiker 2, A Brisso 1, R Sane 1.
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Worse than that was the fact that Brisso came up limping. Trindade made both free throws to tie the game, and Crowder went on to win in overtime 78-72.
The extent of Brisso's injuries was not known at press time, and it was not the best of presents since Tuesday was Brisso's 20th birthday. Mineral Area with its bench of two can ill afford her loss.
"It's not just losing her as a player, but her hustle, her aggressiveness on the court, her defense, she always is getting after it. We can't afford to lose her ability and leadership as a player," said MAC coach Lana LaBruyere.
The Lady Cardinals which are getting to be known as the 'Band-Aid Bunch' could not afford to be too aggressive in the overtime. MAC finished with only five players and three of those had four fouls.
Free throws made the difference for the Lady Riders as they connected on 17 of 20 tries (7-8 in OT), but with their deep bench they could afford to put Mineral Area on the line 32 times. The Lady Cardinals made only 18.
"Free throws could have won it for us," said LaBruyere
After Trindade's tying free throw, the Lady Cardinals had 10 seconds left to score in regulation, and they gave it a great try as a lay-up attempt was off the mark and the follow-up was also short.
The Lady Cardinals fell behind quickly in the overtime period, and their three-point attempts came up empty. MAC was 6-18 on the night from behind the arc.
Brisso started the scoring by hitting a three right after Erica Anderson stole the ball from Crowder which had won the tip. Crowder's Chrissie Greninger answered with one of her own which set the tone for the game. Both teams battled back and forth all the way to the end .
Neither team's defense could prevent the other team from scoring. MAC blew through Crowder's press and Crowder was able to work the ball inside to their taller players for the easy score. Mineral Area could penetrate against Crowder, but a missed shot would usually mean a rebound for the taller Lady Riders.
Alycea Wallace took the ball to the hole numerous times in the first half, scoring 15 of her game-high 25 points. Crowder fed the ball to their 6'4" center Daniella Martins who scored all six of her points in the first half, and whenever she was prevented from shooting by two or more Lady Cardinals, Martins dished off to a teammate for an open shot. Crowder led at the half 35-34.
Where Martins left off in the first half, 6'0" Livia Brito took over inside and scored 12 in the second half, but it was Erin Moore who gave the Lady Riders the edge making 10-11 free throws in the game and going 6-6 in the final minutes of the game.
Brito scored a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds for Crowder. Anderson also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for MAC.
Crowder enjoyed the biggest lead for either team after Erica de Souza hit a three-pointer, and they went up by 10 points with 8:16 left in the game. Coach Lana LaBruyere called time to readjust her offense, and the Lady Cardinals responded with six straight points. A three by Anderson and a pair of free throws by Wallace made it 59-58 and had the Crowder coach hollering for time.
MAC was patient on offense, and the result was an open jumper from 10 feet out by Wallace to give MAC the lead, 60-59. After falling behind 65-63, MAC's Sarah Dietiker was fouled and Crowder was also called for a technical. Brisso sank both of the tech free-throws, and Dietiker made one for the lead. Wallace would add one more free throw, before the Brisso/Trindale collision.
The Lady Cardinals will play their next game at Three Rivers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Region 16 Tournament.
Crowder 35 32 11 - 78
Mineral Area 34 33 5 - 72
SCORING:
Crowder - E Souza 18, E Moore 18, L Brito 16, K Trindade 9, D Martins 6, M Welch 5, C Greninger 3, H Bray 3.
3-Pointers - E Souza 2, L Brito 1, M Welch 1, C Greninger 1.
Mineral Area - A Wallace 25, R Sane 16, E Anderson 13, S Dietiker 10, M Pollard 1.
3-Pointers - E Anderson 2, S Dietiker 2, A Brisso 1, R Sane 1.